After improving to the ‘very poor’ category, the air quality index in Delhi has once again slipped to ‘severe’, with the AQI of 409 on Sunday. The national capital's Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded in the 'very poor' category with a reading of 370 on Saturday. In addition to the cold wave conditions that have the city shivering, layers of smog engulfed the national capital on Sunday morning.
The first half of December provided some temporary relief, with air on six days rated as 'moderate' following an exceptionally polluted November, a month where air quality failed to get better than the 'poor' category.
IQ Air , a Swiss based forecaster recorded 427 air pollution at 12.30 pm. According to this website, the air pollution in Delhi was— over 62. 3 times — the limit prescribed by the
World Health Organisation (WHO) in the morning. The overall level of PM2.5 (a chief pollutant) in Delhi was 311 micrograms per cubic meter as compared to 255.3 micrograms per cubic meter on Friday morning. The overall level of Particulate Matter under 10 microns was 457 micrograms per cubic meter.
The level of Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was recorded 96.7 micrograms per cubic meter, as against the World Health Organization’s (WHO) limit being far stricter at 25µg/m3. Traffic congestion is particularly significant, as it results in idling vehicles that release high levels of NO2.December’s average NO2 level at ITO was 165µg/m3, while Anand Vihar recorded 161µg/m3 — both double CPCB’s safety threshold. Even areas with moderate traffic, such as North Campus DU and Punjabi Bagh, showed peaks exceeding 200µg/m3, underscoring the widespread nature of the problem.Delhi’s road network, burdened by 7.9 million registered vehicles and an influx from neighbouring cities, underscores the scale of the challenge.
The national capital was engulfed in a smog on Sunday morning with residents feeling the chill as cold wave conditions prevailed.AQI readings from various parts of Delhi highlighted the severity of the situation: Okhla Phase 2 (388), Alipur (407), Rohini (423), ITO (382), Ashok Vihar (339), Wajipur (432), Shadipur (387), Mundka (426), Jahangirpuri (437), Narela (472), DTU (352), R.K. Puram (462), Anand Vihar (423), Pusa (377), and Punjabi Bagh (417). Notably, several locations approached or exceeded the "severe" threshold of 400.
The maximum temperature was recorded three notches above normal at 24.1 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature had settled a notch below normal at 7.3 degrees Celsius, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The city experienced fog in the morning, with humidity levels ranging between 68 per cent and 97 per cent, it said. The IMD has forecast cloudy skies with light rain for Monday.
The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to settle at 20 and 7 degrees Celsius, respectively.
